Advertisement

Advertisement

New Scientist Live

Wolves and bears to be slaughtered in Romania once again

Will the culling of “nuisance” bears and wolves bring back trophy hunting?

Jack Picone/Alamy Stock Photo

By Andy Coghlan

The hunting of bears and wolves is back on the agenda in Romania, less than a year after the government banned trophy hunting. Conservation groups have condemned the U-turn and are calling on the government to rescind the decision.

The move was announced on 5 September by Romania’s environment minister Graţiela Gavrilescu. It will allow up to 140 bears and 97 wolves to be killed “under supervision” by the end of 2017, if they’re deemed to be “nuisance animals” that threaten livestock on farms or frighten people by encroaching into inhabited areas.

Advertisement

“It’s unclear if hunters will be allowed to keep the bodies, or sell body parts,” says Masha Kalinina of Humane Society International (HSI). She says the government has caved in to pressure from hunters, farmers and communities that feel threatened.

Save the cows, but how?

It is not clear that killing wolves will protect livestock. “It is basically impossible to draw general conclusions on what works to reduce livestock depredation,” says Ann Eklund of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.